Whitney, Religion and the GOP

I didn't watch Whitney Houston's funeral. I didn't have access to a feed. Over lunch, I checked my Twitter feed on my phone and saw tweets extolling on how beautiful the service was (in real-time of course), how they were being taken to "black church", how glad they were that CNN was broadcasting the service, a religious service, and that that was a good thing. Even some tweeters were pleased to the point of pissing in their pants that Jews and Muslims were being shown the ceremony and that made it a "great day for the world".


Not taking anything away from Whitney Houston's career and accolades, I understand the outpouring of affection and reverence. But it made me think about separation of church and state. There's already way too much religion in this election. The same religion that was broadcast by CNN is the same religion of Santorum. I listened to the simulcast of Face the Nation last week and was in shock at what that man was spewing. But his ideologies are the same of the church that so many on Twitter, so many Blacks, were praising. I've never quite understood Black Christians (my family included). Knowing the origin of why Blacks are Christian makes it hard for me to accept that religion as my own. Many accept it as the religion. That's their choice. I don't like it shoved down my throat.



Re: Santorum, the GOP and the Bible belt, I mentioned on Twitter that if a Republican president is elected in November, it may be time to leave this country. I jest that we'd be heading towards a religious oligarchy but now I believe it more and more. Religion is patriarchal and now it's blatant in the way the candidates and Congress want to eliminate reproductive choices for women and outright control our bodies.

A majority of Black voters are Democrat. When we showed up at the polls in 2008 we lucked out with Obama. Let's hope it happens again, because if we end up with a Republican president, we have a lot to worry about. They're capable of using their religious beliefs as secular mandate--the same religion that whites 400 years ago used to justify slavery and erasing our history. It's the same religion that is against birth control and the same conservative values that were the basis of sterilizing Black women in the South during the 1950's. You're reading the same book.

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thinking out loud